


Hope Keeps Us Together

by Larxicana



Series: Linked Universe [8]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Genre: Angst, Drama, Friendship, Happy Ending, Hope, Hurt/Comfort, Near Death, Violence, Writing Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 03:51:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18541702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larxicana/pseuds/Larxicana
Summary: The monster horde came out of nowhere, seeming to claw their way out of the shadows the trees cast on the ground on the other side of the clearing as the sun set just behind them. Legend felt like an idiot. He should have smelt a trap the moment they stepped foot outside the forest. It had been too quite, too still...Like the whole world knew what was about to happen...





	Hope Keeps Us Together

**Author's Note:**

> I love me some good Legend and Ravio feels <3
> 
> Written for this week's writing prompt of "Hope, even in the worst of times." There were also bonus points for fight scene, over 3K, and writing a Link I don't write about often, all of which I hit unknowingly because I forgot these things were included XD Please enjoy!!
> 
> Also this Linked Universe AU was created by Jojo on Tumblr and ya'll should totally go and check it out! Soooo good.

The monster horde came out of nowhere, seeming to claw their way out of the shadows the trees cast on the ground on the other side of the clearing as the sun set just behind them. Legend felt like an idiot. He should have smelt a trap the moment they stepped foot outside the forest. It had been too quite, too still, like the whole world knew what was about to happen. A few at the front let out gargling roars and spat black tar to the ground. Legend made a face pulled his sword out of his sheath and his shield from his back, bracing himself. He spared a glance over his shoulder at Ravio, who was shaking in his robes. Sheerow had found their group while they were traveling on the road. Legend knew instantly that he had to be in trouble if the bird was there without him. Turns out he had been cornered by a few weak Bokoblins, but Legend was starting to think it was a decoy to get him away from the others. “Get out of here!” He barked, “Stay out of sight until I’m finished!”

The raven-haired man took a few steps back and looked up at him, “Can you take so many on by yourself? Maybe we should retreat and find the others!”

A monster roared and rushed forward, raising its sword. Legend’s glare snapped up to it as he lifted his own to catch the blade and pushed back. He looked back to Ravio, “Just go! Move!” The boy in the bunny hood hesitated for a moment longer, then turned to hide somewhere in the nearby forest. With nothing left to distract him, Legend turned his glare back to the horde. He banged his sword against his shield and shouted, “Come on!”

They met head on, swords clashing. Legend was quick on his feet to dodge and counter each attack thrown at him. One monster swung its sword down and he spun to avoid it, then put both hands on the handle of his own to drive it through the beast’s back. It let out a scream and dropped when Legend yanked his weapon out to continue fighting. He caught the blade of another against his shield then threw it out, opening its chest for a stab. When one got too close, he jumped to avoid its thrusting attack with a spear then landed on top of it, snapping the wooden handle in half when a slam of his foot. The beast roared in outrage but Legend sank his blade into its neck, “Shut up.” He sneers at it and yanked his sword back. He then tossed his sword to the hand strapped to his shield and kicked up the tip of the broken spear to catch in hand. He turned and chucked it as hard as he could with a grunt to embed it into another beast’s eye, causing it to drop instantly. He grinned at his good aim but gasped and dropped when he heard a faint, sharp whistle. An arrow flew past him and stuck right into a Bokoblin’s heart. Legend made a face and turned to watch the beast with the bow load another arrow to fire off. He took his sword in hand again and dove out of the way, rolling over his shoulder. When he hopped back onto his feet, he slashed the gut open of a monster near him and ducked when another arrow flew by. “Ugh!” He shouted in annoyance. It was hard enough to fight the horde without having to dodge arrows too.

Legend cut down one more beast then returned his gear to his back so he could pull his Hookshot out of his belt pouch. He ran parallel to the thing with the bow so it couldn’t get a good lock on him and closed one eye to line up his aim. He sent the metal bit flying across the field where it went right through the beast’s chest and exploded out the other side. Legend quickly pulled on his Power Gauntlets and took hold of the chain, planting his feet firmly on the ground. With a shout, he yanked the chain to the side, pulling the monster’s corpse with it. He swung it around in a wide circle and took out ten more enemies with it, crushing their bodies with the weight of the massive monster. He then yanked it forward and held up his foot so when the corpse collided with it, the end of his Hookshot would pop right out. He retracted it and got moving again, pocketing it to take up his sword and shield once more.

He made quick work of the rest of the monsters, catching one or two nicks in the process. Honestly, this “divide and conjure” thing wasn’t working out well for them. They shouldn’t have underestimated him. When the last beast dropped, Legend stared at it as his breath came and went in pants then wiped his blade off on a monster’s sash. He sheathed his sword and started back towards the forest where his friend was hiding. “Ravio!” He called, “You can come out now!” Legend stepped into the forest and peered around, then put his hands on his hips. “Ravio!” He called again, quickly growing annoyed. He wasn’t playing this game today, not when he was tired and covered in blood.

“Up here!” Legend turned to see the boy perched in a tree, smiling and waving at him. “That was amazing, buddy! Really stuck it to them, huh? Literally! And that thing you did with the Hookshot and that corpse? So ruthless and clever! A real hero! _My_ hero!”

Legend rolled his eyes, “Yeah yeah, can we go now?”

“Yeah lemme just… um…” Ravio bit his lip and glanced around.

His counterpart gave him a dry look, “You’re stuck, aren’t you?”

The boy with the bunny hood chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah. Maybe my charming hero friend could help me down?”

Legend sighed and rubbed his face, “How can you get up a tree but not back down?”

“I was scared! You said run so I ran! Right up this tree where I could hide. You told me to hide.”

“I didn’t tell you to get stuck in a tree!”

“Minor miscalculation on my part there, buddy.”

“I should Hookshot your ass down.”

Ravio clung to a branch near him, his eyes widening, “You wouldn’t! I thought we were friends! Best of friends! Pals! Buddies! You wouldn’t hurt a buddy, would you?” Legend grumbled and started for his tree, causing Ravio to grin. “Aww I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. You’re such a good friend, such a softy.”

“You better shut the fuck up or I’ll leave you in that tree!”

The raven-haired boy chuckled and watched him come closer, but glanced up. Suddenly he gasped, “Link, look out!”

Legend’s eyes widened as he whipped around, just in time to feel a blade pierce his flesh and pop out the other side, feeling his organs shift and burst. None of this was painful until the blade was ripped out of his gut. In slow motion, he watched his blood follow the tip of the sword as it exited his body then break apart into fat, round globs. They flexed and quivered as they fell through the air, until they hit the dirt, where it exploded into smaller droplets. For a moment, there was silence. He couldn’t hear the Lizardo’s cackling or the wind push through the trees, or Ravio screaming behind him. For a moment, all he knew were those tiny droplets as they tumbled out of is body and to the ground, where the earth drank them up greedily.

Then suddenly the world came crashing down and all he could heard was the roaring of his blood in his ears as his gut screamed. Or maybe _he_ was screaming, he couldn’t tell. He was grabbed by the shoulder by one scaley hand as the beast lined up his sword for another thrust, aiming for his heart this time. Legend had been through several battles before this, cut down countless beasts and things that belonged more to nightmares than the real world. He had stopped Ganon and other madman far more than any one else in their group, and yet… his undoing was going to be a Lizardo he didn’t see hiding in the grass, camouflaging itself as fallen leaves and dried out tree branches. The goddess sure had a funny way of disposing of her servants when she was done with them.

The monster pulled its hand back, blood soaked blade glimmering in the golden light of the setting sun, the last one Legend was ever going to see, then thrust it forward but it stopped short when an arrow came from somewhere behind him and pierced the beast’s brain through its eye. The force knocked it back to crumble onto the ground. Without its talents digging into his shoulder, he swayed and dropped to his knees, then hunched over to dig one hand into the ground. He gasped and put a hand to his gut, his world swaying. He heard a thump then quick footsteps rushing towards him. He prayed it wasn’t another monsters because he knew he couldn’t defend himself now. He couldn’t even recall his own name over the level of agony his body was in from having his insides rearranged. Ravio dropped beside him, stumbling and tripping over his long tunic. He tossed his bow down and yanked the cloth out of his way to free up his legs then put his hands on Legend’s back. “Link! Oh my goddess, oh my goddess… Oh goddess fucking shit! Here, ok, lay down. Lemme-…” Legend’s shaking arm gave away and he went crashing to the ground. He screamed at the top of his lungs when the hand he had cupped his wound with was forced into it from the motion. Ravio screamed too and put his hands to his mouth but quickly - carefully - rolled him onto his back, “Ok, ok, it’s alright. You’re gonna be ok. Lemme just…” Ravio swallowed and paled at the sight of his wound, at the amount of blood saturating his clothes. He hands fluttered over it, shaking violently, then moved to his pouch to dig for a potion, tossing items everywhere. When he finally found what he was looking for, a small glass bottle filled with a dark red liquid, he gasped. He struggled with the cork for a moment, his hands shaking so badly that he couldn’t get a good grip, then resorted to grabbing it with his teeth to yank it out and spit it somewhere else. He slid one arm under his shoulders to hoist him up against his chest and shoulder, not caring in the least if he got blood and guts on his clothes as a result. He moved the bottle to his lips, accidentally splashing a little on his cheek, “Link, come on, come on you gotta drink this, you gotta drink this, it’ll make you feel better.” Legend’s head lulled back and to the side, causing Ravio to let out a panicked sound as tears started to form in his eyes. “No! Link! Link come on, please! Don’t- come on, you have to drink this!” He shook him a little and the boy opened his eyes. Ravio let out a sob then took a deep breath through his nose, “Come on buddy, you gotta drink this. Drink this for me, please. I need you to do this for me, ok? Just…” He nudged him again and Legend rolled his head to the other side, pressing his cheek into his shoulder with a dazed look in his eye. “No come on. Link, please…” Ravio moved the bottle to his lips again and tipped it back. The first little bit slipped back out of his mouth and rolled down his chin, staining Ravio’s tunic, but slowly, he started to swallow. The raven-haired boy made sure not to give him too much at once, pausing so he could cough or breathe, then gave him a little more.

When he finally finished it, Ravio tossed it aside and looked down at the wound on his stomach, moving some of the fabric out of the way to watch the wound glow as he held his breath. He watched as the edges of his wound started to contract smaller and smaller, then the glowing stopped. His eyes widened, “That… that’s it?! I-…” He looked around, but saw he had no more potions. He made another panicked sound and scrambled to pull a dagger from his belt. He set this aside then grabbed the edge of his long tunic, passing it to the hand that was holding Legend’s shoulder. With his free hand, he used the dagger to cut a good two feet off his tunic. He put the knife away then bunched up the fabric to press to Legend’s side, earning a weak wince. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, b-but I have to stop the bleeding. You’re still bleeding and I-I…” Ravio sniffled as tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked up and around until he spot Sheerow watching from the side where he wouldn’t get in the way. “Sheerow! Find the others! Th-They can’t be far… Bring them here, and hurry!” The bird let out a chirp and quickly took flight. Ravio watched him go then looked down at Legend, who had closed his eyes again.

“Hey,” he nudged him a little with his shoulder, “Link, come on. Look at me, look at me…” The boy blinked his eyes open a little, staring at his shoulder before slowly shifting his gaze up to him. Ravio grinned, “Good! There you go… Hey, hey how about we talk about something, yeah? How about we talk about… how we met! Yeah, let’s talk about how we met. Can you tell me how that happened?” Legend stared at him for a long moment before his eyes started to slip shut again. “No! No, come on. Link,” he nudged him again, eyes wide with panic, “you gotta keep looking at me, ok? Tell me how we met. I found you in the Sanctuary, right? And I took you back to your house but I thought it was some abandoned house? Do you remember that? Tell me about that.” He shifted to sit more comfortable and pulled his friend closer.

Legend blinked back up at him and sighed, making a face, “I hate you…” He grumbled into his shoulder.

Ravio laughed then sniffled, “No you don’t. You love me. I’m like your only friend and you love me. Honestly, you would lost with out me, buddy.” The blonde’s eyes started to slip shut again but Ravio shook him, “Um! Hey! S-Since you hate me so much, why don’t you tell me the stuff you hate about me, huh? What do you not like about me? N-Not like there’s a lot to choose from but…”

“I hate yer stupid face…”

The raven-haired teen blinked,“But like… it’s really similar to yours? So like, does that mean you hate your own face?”

“I hate yer mouth…”

“But I like my mouth! If I didn’t have a mouth, how would I talk to you? I can’t do that sign thingy you guys do. I would be silent!”

“Good…”

Ravio’s jaw dropped and Legend smiled a little.“You are so mean!” He cried, “After everything I did for you, this is how you treat me?” The blonde chuckled, but it turned into a violent fit of coughs that splattered blood all over Ravio’s neck and jaw. The boy let out a surprised cry and turned his head away, squeezing his eyes shut, but looked back with large ones. Legend eyes were closed again and his head had lulled back. “No! No no no no no, come on! Hey, you were doing so well! Link, come on, don’t… Please, you gotta look at me.” He pulled him closer and lifted his shoulder, nudging him a little.Slowly, Legend blinked open his eyes, rolling his head to rest it on his shoulder again. Ravio let out a little sob, then sniffled. “Good, there you go… Come on, talk to me.”

“Ravio…”

“Yes, yes I’m right here. You’re gonna be alright, ok? Sheerow went to find your friends and I’m sure he’ll be back in no time at all!”

“Listen to me…”

“I’m listening, buddy. I am all ears. What do you want to talk about? How about Lorule? Do you wanna talk about that? You hate Lorule so much. Why don’t you tell me all the stuff you hate about that, ok?”

 _“Ravio.”_ Legend growled lowly, narrowing his eyes a little at him. The raven-haired boy swallowed around a painful lump in his throat and pressed his lips together. When he was sure he would actual listen, Legend took a deep breath through his nose and continued, “I’m not going to make it…”

“No! Don’t say that! Yes you are!”

 _“Listen to me!_ I’m not going to make it…” The blonde closed his eyes, “I… have done _so much_ fighting… I’m tired… I’m tired of… of fighting and… the _pain_ and… losing the people I care about…”

“But I’m right here!” Ravio gripped his shoulder tighter as he tried to smile around his tears at him, “You won’t lose me, I promise. I will stay right here and I will never leave you, ok?” He hesitated, “I mean… I-I’m one of those people you care about right? If not then um… w-well this would be really awkward.”

Legend chuckled in his throat and smiled up at him with eyes that were so soft, so open, it made Ravio’s heart jump, and not in a good way. “Yeah… yer one of those people…” He lifted a hand to cling weakly at the front of his tunic, “Yer my best friend, Ravio. W-When I came home from whatever fucking… _hell_ hole the goddess sent me to, you’d be there… and… you’d welcome me home and give me a hug and… there was always a hot meal on the table… and you’d say… _‘A hero needs his strength to save the day!’_ And… it made me feel so much better. Made me wanna keep fighting…”

“And you should keep fighting now!” Ravio told him desperately, feeling ice form around his heart, “When the others come, we’ll get you fixed up and you’ll be fine a-and I’ll make you something to eat, ok? Whatever you want, buddy. Just name it! I-I mean my cooking skills are limited, but I will figure out a way to make it for you, ok? But you gotta stay with me. You’re gonna be fine. You just gotta have faith, ok?”

Legend shook his head, “No…” he sighed and closed his eyes, “I’m tired of hoping for something better… Every time I fix the world, it manages to get fucked up again…. What good is hope if it doesn’t get you anything?”

“Don’t say that!” Legend’s blinked his eyes open a little at the cry, looking up to see Ravio’s face was twisted with pain and agony, fat tears welling in his eyes and running down his filthy cheeks. “How can you say something like that?! Hope is everything! Hope is what saved your kingdom and mine and brought me to you!” He shifted a little and sniffled as he collected himself again, “I’m gonna tell you something, ok? I never told you this before so you gotta listen. You can’t fall asleep.” Ravio swallowed and cleared his throat of the thickness that was forming there. “I used to be a Knight of Lorule, you remember that, right? I used to serve Princess Hilda and then Yuga came in and twisted her heart and the kingdom fell into shambles. Lorule was never really an amazing place, but it was home, and to see it crumble like it did… it broke my heart, but what was I going to do about it? I wasn’t strong enough or brave enough to take on Yuga. My whole… _fucking_ world was literally falling to pieces around me, do you understand? I watched people kill each other in the streets for scraps of food, watched children starve to death in the alley ways, watched groups of thugs break into the houses of families to take any kind of valuables they had then beat them to death afterwards. Sometimes, I would stand in the middle of Castle Town and look around at the darkness that had infected everything and everyone and think… this is my home. This is what my world has turned into.”

Legend said nothing as he gazed up at him, watching the boy sniffle and stare at the ground as he continued, “When I started to talk about against Yuga, tried to reason with the princess, he convinced her that I was a traitor to their cause, that I wanted to see Lorule crumble, and she banished me. I had nothing after that. No house, no money…” Ravio gave him a smile that held no joy in it, “Did you know that when I met you that first time, I hadn’t eaten in three days?”

 _“What…?”_ Legend whispered, brows frowning up.

The other sniffled and nodded, pressing his lips together, “Mhm. I couldn’t afford any food and I wasn’t going to steal it like all the other thugs. But even when the pain in my stomach was so intense it render me motionless, I never lost hope.” This time when he smiled at him, there was a light to his eyes, something beautiful and warm. “I had heard from Yuga that there was place called Hyrule, where everything was bathed in light, where everyone was happy. But more importantly, he said it was a mirrored world to our own, where there was another princess and another Tri-Force, and it had me thinking… if there was another princess, then there had to be another hero, right? There had to be someone in that world who was strong and brave and selfless… someone who could stand up to Yuga where I couldn’t. So, I scrounged up as much money as I could and bought a bracelet from a witch that had enough magic in it for one trip to Hyrule - just one.”

“The one you gave me when we first met…”

Ravio nodded, “Mhm. I couldn’t go back home after I used it, _and I didn’t hesitate._ Even though I was walking into the unknown, never to return to the crumbling, decaying place I called home, I didn’t hesitate. Do you wanna know why? Because… because I clung to my hope that someone in that other world could help me, to the hope that my home could be saved. And that hope… brought me to you.” His eyes were sparkling, regardless of his tears, “So I don’t want to hear any more of this… this… _quitter_ talk out of you, ok? Hope is a very powerful thing, you just have to give it a chance.”

Legend stared up at him for a long moment. His eyes looked a little distant, but also sad. “I’m so sorry…”

“About what?”

“That you suffered like that…”

Ravio shook his head and took his hand away from the cloth he was holding to his friend’s wound to wipe his tears away with the back of his sleeve before quickly returning pressure to his side. “No, don’t be. It wasn’t your fault. Besides, if all that stuff wouldn’t have happened, I wouldn’t have met you and… well you’re my best friend too! Heh! S-So it would hurt me really bad if you died, so you have to keep fighting, ok? You have to hold on. When the others get here, they’ll patch you up and you’ll be just fine and we can go, I don’t know… prank some villagers or something. Or that fellow with the scarf”

Legend chuckled in his throat as his gaze became a little more unfocused, “I’d like that a lot…”

“I know you would!” Ravio laughed. He watched him with a little smile, but it slowly started to fade as he watched Legend’s eyes start to drift.“Hey,” he shook him a little, but the other’s eyes slipped closed. Ravio’s widened as his heart rate picked up again, “Link! Hey! No, come on, don’t go to sleep!” He looked down at the cloth in his hand and realized it was soaked at this point, turning the purple fabric black. He let made a little panicked sound and looked back to the other’s face, “Link? Link!” He whimpered and ducked his head, putting his cheek near his nose and mouth. He could feel very shallow, weak breaths puff agains this skin. He was alive, but lost enough blood to render him unconscious. This wasn’t good. Any more and he would bleed out and he could… “Help!” He cried, lifting his aching eyes to scan the forest, “Please! Somebody! Anyone?! Sheerow?!” He whimpered again and looked back down at his friend. He finally noticed how pale he had gotten, how blue his lips where. “No, no come on.” He hugged him closer and sniffled as tears started to run down his cheeks again. He moved his hand from his shoulder to the back of his head then ducked his own to press his nose and lips to his forehead, “Link, I-I can’t lose you…! Please, please… I can’t… Oh goddess please… You’re my best friend… What am I supposed to do without you? Please… I love you, I can’t lose you…! Link…!” He whimpered then let out a sob as his body shook. He clung to his friend and curled around him as tears rushed down his face.

“I see them!”

Ravio gasped as his head shot up, scanning the area with wide eyes. He held his breath then cried, “Hello?! Is someone there?!”

“Ravio!”

The boy let out a sob as relieve washed through him, “Over here! Hurry, please! He’s lost so much blood!” He watched Legend’s friend crest the hill and bolt over to them. A brunette in brown pants and a green tunic got there first and knelt down across from him to look over the blonde. “H-He was stabbed in the stomach and I gave him a potion but it wasn’t enough to completely heal the wound a-and I didn’t have any more so I tried to put pressure on his wound to stop the bleeding but there’s so much and he’s barely breathing!” He told him quickly.

The other boy moved the cloth to study his wound then looked to the others, “I need a fairy, now!” Another teen with long hair and a scarred face dropped down beside him to dig through his bag then pulled out a glass bottle with a little pink fairy floating around inside. The brunette took it, “Please little fairy, help heal our friend.” He pulled the cork out and tipped the bottle to encourage it out. The fairy slowly drifted out, but as soon as it saw Legend’s wound, it got to work healing it. Ravio watched with wide eyes, holding his breath. When the glowing around the wound faded, the brunette gently ushered the fairy back into the bottle to rest, handing it back to the scarred boy. Ravio watched as the fabric of Legend’s tunic was moved and saw that… his wound was completely healed. He gasped, then let out a sob as new tears ran down his face, the happy sort this time. He smiled at the other, who returned. it. “The wound is closed and cleansed, but he’ll still need lots of rest to regain all that blood, ok?” Ravio nodded quickly then looked back down at Legend. He was still a little pale, but color was already starting to come back to his lips. He sniffled then let out a little laugh as he ducked his head to press it to the other’s, holding him tighter than ever before. He was going be ok…!

A hand to his shoulder caused him to look up. It was the eldest out of the group, the one with marking on his face and a scar over his eye. He was smiling at him kindly, “We should get him somewhere safe. There’s a village not far from here where he can rest.”

Ravio nodded quickly and shifted his hold on his friend, “I’ll carry him!” He declared and tried to lift him as he stood, but struggled.

“Why don’t you let one of us carry him?” The older man suggested, causing Ravio to look up at him and hold Legend tighter. He seemed to understand and held up a hand, “It’s alright. You are more than welcome to come with us and walk right beside him the entire way.” He knelt to be eye level with him resting his elbows on top of his knees, “You carried him this far, now let us help you with the rest.”

The raven-haired boy stared at him for a moment, biting his lip, then nodded, “Ok.” The eldest stepped back so another boy with markings on his forehead and a fur pelt draped over his shoulders could kneel before him. He carefully slipped his arms under Legend and easily lifted him to hold against his chest. Ravio scrambled to gather his things and shove them into his bag then pulled the strap over his head. He grabbed his bow and stood, jogging to catch up to the boy carrying Legend. He looked at his friend’s peaceful face and touched his knee lightly, smiling as he felt his faith in hope strengthen once more.

**

Legend made a little face as his aches and pains woke him from his slumber. He lifted a hand to rub is head then run his fingers through his hair, discovering his cap was gone. He took a slow deep breath through his nose, then blinked his eyes open, making a little face at the sunlight streaming through the window. He took a moment to survey his surroundings and found he was lying on a bed in what looked like an inn. He wasn’t wearing any of his gear or… he lifted the covers over his lower half to find that he was clothing-less except for his shorts. Thank the goddess for that. His waist was also wrapped in white bandages that seemed fresh and clean. He dropped his head back onto the pillow and his hand then sighed. His eyes slipped shut once more, but a soft snore pulled his attention to the side of his bed. Half sitting in a chair, half sleeping on his bed, clinging to one of his hands, was Ravio wearing just a pair of pants and what looked like one of Wild’s extra shirts. He had never seen him without his usual hood and scarf. He looked like a normal teenager. A gold reflection caught Legend’s attention and his tilted his head to find its source, seeing a Tri-Force necklace dangling from his neck, one that was upright instead of reversed like Lorule’s was. It took him a moment longer than it should have, but he recognized it as the one he had tossed Ravio just before Hilda sent him and his princess back to Hyrule. Something to remember him by, he told him. Honestly it was a piece of junk and he didn’t even know why he had it on him at the time, but apparently Ravio liked it enough to continue wearing it, even after all this time.

Legend took a moment to glance the other over for injures as best he could in his lying position, careful not to wake him because the last thing he needed was him waking up and fretting over him. Besides… he looked pretty tired. He could probably use the rest.

So… he made it after all. _“Ain’t that some shit?”_ He thought. It hadn’t been looking good there for a while, and he knew at some point he had lost consciousness. Some point after… after Revio’s story. He recalled some of the more gruesome details and found himself frowning. The guy watched everything important to him fall apart, watched people be reduced to animals, went fucking _hungry_ because he couldn’t even afford to buy food, and goddess forbid he do one bad deed in his life and stole some. He went through all that - _all that!_ \- and still had this passionate belief in hope, that there was some sort of light at the end of the tunnel that was going to make everything better. Well… he wasn’t going to admit it out loud (and hoped he hadn’t under pain of death, things were still a little fuzzy) but he liked this kid an awful lot and knew if he hadn’t risked everything to come and find him, they probably would neverhave met. That right there would have been a damn shame.

So, as he sat there watching his friend sleep peacefully at his side, he had to admit…

Maybe there was something to this hope thing after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Can I just say how much I love this ending? I am so ridiculously proud of it, just gotta say XD
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
